Chapter 1049: Offensive and Defensive Battle
Chi Minghong laughed heartily, but before the laughter faded, a large net dropped down from above, forcing the two of them to abandon the car and flee!
Xu Huo made it to the rooftop, while Chi Minghong was knocked off course by a prop and landed on the balcony of a residential unit several floors below.
One was high, the other low, as they dodged fire from the aircraft while running toward the New Xiangyang Energy Plant. Seeing that more and more people were chasing them, Xu Huo was pondering how to escape when suddenly a deafening explosion erupted from diagonally ahead. The spreading shockwave shattered the windows of nearby residences, and a massive wave of heat scorched every inch of air in the vicinity—even the rooftop couldn't escape it!
The loud noise drew the attention of most players in the area, but when they looked back, the explosion site didn't spew flames—instead, it continuously emitted blue-black smoke!
Within three seconds, the city's alarms sounded. After the piercing siren, robots scattered throughout the city began broadcasting in a loop: "Class D toxic gas leak incident. Citizens are advised to take shelter at home, wear gas masks, and await further instructions from the government. Until then, please do not move around. Thank you for your cooperation."
Xu Huo noticed that the robots in different locations were announcing different levels for the toxic gas leak incident. The closer to the explosion site, the higher the rating, and the area emitting smoke happened to be near the New Xiangyang Energy Plant.
It wasn't yet certain whether the energy plant itself had exploded, but a large number of people, including players, were pouring out of that area.
The streets fell into chaos. Ordinary citizens, who had been told by the robots to stay indoors, began uncontrollably fleeing into the distance.
"It looks like the gas that leaked is very dangerous," Chi Minghong seized the opportunity to catch up to him. "Still going?"
"Wearing protective gear shouldn't be a big problem." Xu Huo tossed her an injection. "A specially made antidote—use it when needed."
Chi Minghong had already changed into protective clothing. Through her gas mask, she gave him a thumbs-up, and then the two headed toward the energy plant.
Nearby players also moved in that direction, but according to the emergency response measures for District 002, they weren't the primary rescue force. So instead of going directly to the explosion site, they cooperated with the robots on the periphery to handle the toxic gas.
However, the shockwave had carried the gas too far. Whether the robots tried to absorb it or use other substances to adsorb it, they couldn't neutralize it in a short time. As time passed, people on the streets began collapsing from poisoning.
This type of gas wasn't potent enough to cause poisoning through skin contact, but some people didn't wear their gas masks properly, and others with damaged masks resorted to stealing from others.
Once people started falling in the streets, those still watching panicked. Even those within the announced Class D toxic gas leak range flooded onto the streets—since civilian aircraft had been locked by the authorities to enforce the lockdown, they could only leave on foot.
With so many people crowding the streets, even players couldn't manage them all. Soon, the nearby players shifted their focus from hunting down Holy Sword Society members and outer zone players to evacuating crowds and treating the injured.
Xu Huo and Chi Minghong successfully escaped.
When they reached the New Xiangyang Energy Plant, they discovered that the explosion had actually occurred at a development company next door. After the toxic gas leaked, the energy plant was the most severely affected area, which explained why so many players had come out earlier.
Clearly, the explosion was man-made. Some outer zone players were engaged in an offensive and defensive battle with the players of District 002. Despite the explosion, the energy plant hadn't suffered catastrophic damage—aside from the destroyed peripheral buildings, the main structure remained intact, demarcated by a huge oval pattern.
Xu Huo's gaze swept back and forth between the two sides in combat, finally locking onto a player in a gray coat standing by the energy plant's main gate. This person was likely controlling the defensive prop. Apart from him, the other players were mostly engaged in battle, with a few scattered around specifically protecting certain buildings.
As for the Holy Sword Society members, he recognized one—the B-rank player he had fought earlier. Now wearing a red protective suit, two translucent, glowing objects resembling rugby balls rotated at his side. With a point of his finger, one of them emitted three sharp, rapid sounds of air being split, slamming heavily into the protective barrier outside the energy plant!
Unexpectedly, the collision didn't make much noise. The protective barrier was like a soft convex surface; after the spherical prop struck it, a few ripples of white light flashed across, seemingly absorbing the impact. In fact, the prop ball was deeply embedded in the barrier and didn't bounce back immediately. After two seconds, the white light on the barrier rebounded like a counterforce, finally knocking the prop ball away!
But the rebound seemed uncontrolled, sending the prop ball flying toward a building on the right, causing another loud crash!
"That explosion earlier must have been caused by this thing," Chi Minghong said, trying to stay inconspicuous. "The Holy Sword Society isn't cutting it—if they can't break through this barrier on the ground, why not go underground!"
The Holy Sword Society seemed to have the same idea. While the player in red protective suit attacked head-on, another player controlled a mechanical pangolin, which drilled a hole directly into the side of the plant.
A mechanical animal might not be strong in combat, but if it carried a bag of bombs, that was a different story!
"Boom!!!" A burst of flames first lit up at the edge of the protective barrier. With several more fiery eruptions, the players using props to suppress the explosion's shockwave were forced to retreat. The massive outer barrier swelled into overlapping bulges under the pressure, and after a few seconds, it completely gave way and burst!
The intense heat wave rushed outward. Nearby players quickly changed direction, flashing to safer spots to begin a second round of combat. Meanwhile, the player in red protective suit led his people into the energy plant!
Once inside the energy plant, even fighting with restraint made it hard to ensure the building's safety, let alone when one side had no intention of holding back.
With two flashes of silver light, the energy plant was sliced from the middle and from above, instantly splitting into three pieces. One piece slid down along the cut slope, crashing to the ground with a loud noise, causing varying degrees of depression in the ground. From those depressions, one could barely see specially made metal panels and narrow gaps that shouldn't exist underground—these were the routes for the underground pipeline system!
Xu Huo seized the opportunity. He and Chi Minghong slipped into the collapsed building. He pulverized a section of metal panel near the ground, threw a few smoke bombs inside, shouted "Toxic gas leak!", and then jumped in.
(Chapter End)